Article by Greg Jaklewicz
It’s that time of year, when school begins to wind down.
But not for all students.
Teachers such as Ann Hurst and Kina Tiemann have been making the most of the final six weeks.
The halls of Wylie West Junior High attest to their drive to the finish line.
Tiemann was up first with 15 student-created portraits of West faculty and staff. As an example to her students, Tiemann did one of custodian Victor Salinas.
This was the first time Tiemann had tried this collaborative project between teacher and student.
The eye-popping images measuring 24 in. by 30 in. They were created by her eighth-grade Art 2 class, employing a photograph and even (gasp!) AI to create a pop art effect.
Tiemann’s annual Artwalk pieces now are going up. Dozens and dozens of them. The WWJH Artwalk is Thursday evening, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
(Wylie West JH student's image of seventh-grade RLA teacher Ann Hurst for Kina Tiemann's art project)
Queen Ann’s adventure
(Seventh-grade advanced RLA teacher Ann Hurst gives final instructions before the medieval museum night.)
In between, Hurst galloped into the mix, also taking her seventh--grade students out of the classroom. She dusted off a project she did in the past, assigning students a research project (boring) based on medieval times (pretty cool). Something about kings and queens and knights and jousting and such interests the kids.
“Years ago, we started reading Arthurian legends … ‘The Sword in the Stone’ and ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,’ a unit that we did,” she said. “I was pleasantly surprised at how my kids got into it.They really like that medieval stuff.”
The medieval time period, for adults who have forgotten, began after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD and lasted 1,000 years.
The light bulb cord was pulled in her head.
“We always have to teach research, so I developed this research project that came out of this literature,” she said.
Hurst, who teaches AP English, returned to her idea this year.
“I think the last group I did this with are seniors now,” she said. Recent research projects also had digital components but were taught differently, she said.
“I was eager to get back to it because I know how special it is,” she said.
Hurst has 65 students in three double-block classes (about 45 to 50 participated in the project). Many have been in advanced classes for several years, so they know that Hurst and other teachers will push them out of their boxes.
Teachers such as Hurst, who is certified as a gifted and talented instructor, are encouraged to challenge their students. Get outside of the castle, in this case.
This is the kind of multi-faceted project that is suggested to “push them out of the norm, like paper-writing things,” she said.
Like Tiemann, she led her students into the digital world to create a slideshow with their voiceovers. She used QR codes to allow others to listen to their explanations of the topic they chose.
Students worked in groups, most in pairs but others in greater numbers.
Hurst called her hallway project a “museum experience,” based on Renaissance fairs and her experience with her own children going to hands-on museums for youngsters.
“I combined those ideas,” she said.
On with the show
On May 5, parents and others were invited to come to WWJH to view the students’ work. They picked from a list of topics and then “followed their interests,” she said.
The embedded lessons were doing extensive research, finding credible sources and how to avoid plagiarism. Besides the visual component, students had to turn in written projects that emphasized the citation of works. Hurst even required notecards, which students have used for generations to organize their work.
These lessons will come back into play as the seventh-graders move to eighth grade and beyond.
"As close to a college paper as junior high kids get,” Hurst said.
So, old school meets 21st century education, combining creativity, hands-on work and … fun.
Their demonstrations ranged from “planting” wheat grass, lettuce and flowers and listening to music played by symphonic band members An Le and My Nguyen to tasting the food of the day, prepared by six girls. This was back when golden arches had nothing to do with McDonald’s.
(An Le, left, and My Nguyen perform music from the animated movie "Princess Mononoke" that worked for the medieval museum mood.)
Visitors watched Barrett Hyude and Ryder Johnston operate Hyde’s trebuchet in action. A trebuchet, for those born too late for the times, is an attack device used during sieges. It used a counterweight and a hinged arm to launch a stone or even a fireball over a distance.
Hyde found plans online, Hurst said, and got his dad to cut the wood. Hyde assembled it himself.
It worked, though students also got lessons on math and physics when shots missed left or right, fell too short or sailed too long.
A castle built of Legos by Pike Schmerbeck took 12 hours.
Olivia Ross fooled visitors in her costume, complete with headgear, sword and shield. She painted on a beard and passed as Sir Fights Alot.
Jack Runyan took on housing, something he admitted he knew nothing about. Asked if he now was inspired to charge at another knight and try to knock him off with a long pole, Runyan answered honestly.
“Nah, I wouldn’t want to get hurt,” he said.
Fortunately, jousting is not permitted in the Wylie ISD, though pole vaulting is a track and field option.
(Olivia Ross is ready for battle or, at least, a high grade for Ann Hurst's medieval museum project.)
Kids pushing themselves
Though she had to lay down the ground rules for a presentable presentation, Hurst was seen smiling as she swooped through the hallways.
“These kids are so amazing,” Hurst said.
Teachers know that when a student is interested in school, they perform at a higher level.
“They got to follow their interests,” she said.
Hurst even had awards.
“Best food, best costume, best siege weapon,” she said, laughing.
Speaking of costumes, Queen Ann donned her medieval dress for touring the hall and giving students a grade at each station.
“So many of these kids pushed themselves,” she said, pleased with the outcome of her enrichment project.
“That is my philosophy of teaching. Let’s make sure whatever we are doing in class, that it’s something that is interesting,” she said. “Of course we have to do grammar and we have to do punctuation and spelling, but I try not to teach boring stuff.”
The most important question in this might be: Did the students do well?
“They got fine grades,” Hurst said.
However, the experience won the battle.
“At the end of the day,” Hurst said, “ it was so fun.”
(Jett Choate, left, and Miles LaFevre plays chess, a favorite game of medieval times.)
(What did the common folk eat during medieval times? Well, visitors to museum night found out.)
(Ryder Johnston and Barrett Hyde watch expressly as Hyde's trebuchet launches weaponry at a castle made of Legos.)
(Ann Hurst gets a lesson in jousting from Jack Runyan.)
(Ann Hurst and student Bao Tran raid and pillage as the Vikings did back in the day.)